The company will produce organic, premium, customized infant-formulas at its Arinco plant in Videbaek, Denmark. Private-label options will be available both as finished formulas and base powders.
The company also announced the patented technology will be named ORIGIN by Arla Foods Ingredients.
The company said organic products are leading growth in the global infant formula market and more than 15% of launches in the last three years have featured organic claims. It said the sector is expected to grow by 10% over the next five years, but with demand for organic whey and lactose outpacing supply, Arla Foods Ingredients said insufficient availability of infant-grade organic raw materials has threatened to hold back growth.
ORIGIN by Arla Foods Ingredients enables manufacturers in the early life nutrition sectors to bypass organic whey shortages as Arla Foods Ingredients can keep up with demand in this market by drawing on an unconstrained supply of milk from Arla’s organic farms.
Steen Lyck, commercial director, child nutrition manufacturing at Arla Foods Ingredients, said, “ORIGIN by Arla Foods Ingredients is a significant step forward for infant formula brand owners. With our patented technology that obtains ingredients from fresh, organic milk at consistently higher quality, infant formula brand owners can finally capture the exciting potential of premium organic infant formula. In terms of certifications, our organic infant formula already has EU and Chinese organic approvals.”
ORIGIN by Arla Foods Ingredients is a patented process, which extracts proteins directly from fresh milk using filtration technology. The approach is based on a fully-integrated process at one dedicated production site with no use of additives in the milk streams, reducing production complexity and time from milk to can. The technology was introduced in November 2021.
Henrik Andersen, CEO of Arla Foods Ingredients, said, “As science-based innovators we are driven to invent and reinvent our processes to ensure we have the best possible products available and continue to lead the way in whey.
“Traditional cheesemaking demands significant quantities of organic raw milk to produce the volumes of whey needed to meet demand. Now that we’re not reliant on this, we can significantly increase production. And because all the milk we use comes from just a few Arla farms, we’re able to offer greater clarity around provenance.”
The company said it will continue its focus on the organic sector in 2022.